In March 2015 the major high street retailer British Home Stores (BHS) was acquired for £1 by Retail Acquisitions Limited (RAL), a company owned by Mr Dominic Chappell. Mr Chappell became a director of the BHS entities upon completion of the purchase, together with three other individuals.

In Mitchell and others v Al Jaber; Al Jaber and others v JJW Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 423 the Court of Appeal has confirmed that a director remained subject to a continuing fiduciary duty post liquidation when purporting to transfer assets owned by that company, on the basis he was an “intermeddler”. While the case concerned a BVI company, the court’s decision was based on English-law authorities and therefore has wider significance.

Facts

In the recent case of Loveridge v Povey and Ors [2024] EWHC 329 (Ch) a company shareholder sought to challenge the administrators’ decision to rescue a balance sheet solvent company as a going concern by securing additional funding, as opposed to pursuing a sale of the business.

Background

I dagarna har konkursen i Componenta Främmestad AB avslutats. Bolaget försattes i konkurs under hösten 2019 varvid Jonas Premfors utsågs till konkursförvaltare.

Bolaget har haft en årsomsättning om ca 800 mkr och utgjort ett dotterbolag inom den finska börsnoterade Componenta-koncernen. Verksamheten har bestått i tillverkning av chassikomponenter till den tunga fordonsindustrin med kunder i ett antal europeiska länder samt i Australien och Sydamerika.

McDermott restructuring plan approved amidst parallel settlement negotiations

The English court has given the green light to the restructuring plan (the Plan) proposed by CB&I UK Limited, part of the McDermott Group, marking the first such approval since the Court of Appeal’s pivotal decision in the Adler case (see our previous update).

The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in the case of Humphrey v Bennett, providing some useful guidance on the nature and scope of a director’s duty to avoid conflicts of interest. The case was an appeal against summary judgment of the High Court following a derivative claim brought on behalf of a company by minority shareholders. The case will be of particular interest to directors of smaller companies whose management structures very often operate on a more informal footing.

Över 8 200 företag försattes i konkurs under 2023, vilket innebär en ökning med 31 procent jämfört med föregående år, enligt statistik från Creditsafe. 2023 går till historien som det högsta konkursåret sedan Creditsafe började med sina mätningar 1999.

Konkursstormen som pågått i sjutton månader har drabbat både stora och små företag i alla län och branscher. Värst drabbat är sportsektorn, bilhandlare och bygg. Under året gick 1,08 procent av Sveriges aktiebolag i konkurs. Höga konkurstal kommer fortsätta prägla 2024.

Outcome of the UK government's market consultation and the likely shape and impact of the proposed regime

The well-publicised restructuring of the Galapagos group (the group) in 2019 spawned multiple challenges by stakeholders in the courts of a number of different jurisdictions. The latest decision of the English High Court considers the interpretation of the Distressed Disposal provision within an LMA-form intercreditor agreement (ICA) following a challenge by subordinated noteholders (the noteholders) to the validity of the release of their claims as part of the wider restructuring.

The government recently published its response to its earlier consultation on the Hague Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (Hague 2019 or the convention).